Federal law finally covers dating partners in domestic violence cases
S. 2196 — Strengthening Protections for Domestic Violence and Stalking Survivors Act of 2025 · Filed by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) · 17 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands federal domestic violence and stalking protections by redefining 'intimate partner' to include current and former dating partners (not just spouses), extends protections to children of dating partners, and creates a new federal firearm prohibition for anyone convicted of misdemeanor stalking. The bill strengthens protections for domestic violence and stalking survivors by closing gaps in federal law that previously excluded dating relationships.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to expand federal domestic violence and stalking protections by broadening the definition of intimate partner relationships and adding a new firearm prohibition for stalking convictions. This is straightforward victim-protection legislation.
What the text implies
- Misdemeanor stalking conviction now triggers federal firearm prohibition; individuals may not realize a state misdemeanor conviction has federal consequences for gun ownership.
- Definition of 'dating relationship' is fact-dependent ('continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature'); enforcement and prosecution may vary across jurisdictions based on how courts interpret 'serious' and 'romantic.'
- Expansion to protect 'pets, service animals, or emotional support animals' of intimate partners is novel in federal law; case law on what constitutes credible threat to an animal's safety is underdeveloped.
- Bill covers emotional distress as a standalone harm trigger for stalking prohibition; this is broader than traditional stalking definitions and may capture conduct not involving physical threat.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Domestic violence and stalking survivors gain expanded federal legal protections and remedies previously unavailable to those in dating relationships. The firearm prohibition for stalking convictions reduces access to weapons by individuals with demonstrated patterns of harassment and intimidation, lowering risk of lethal harm.
Named in the bill
18 U.S.C. § 921, 18 U.S.C. § 922, Chapter 44 (Title 18), Federal firearms law, State and Tribal domestic violence laws, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Where it stands
17 cosponsors: 16 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Jun 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 26, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $62,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 14 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Amy Klobuchar, the sponsor, reported $116,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (naemt) — $62,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,477 characters) on Sep 27, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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